Hostage Situation
by Yayfully Free
Summary: The thing about the Della Robbia family is that they are very large and very rich. This presents a problem for Aelita when she is kidnapped and held for ransom and none of them has ever heard of her before.
1. Chapter 1

**Hostage Situation  
****Authored by:** SeeMeInTheShadows  
**Summary:** The thing about the Della Robbia family is that they are very large and very rich. This presents a problem for Aelita when she is kidnapped and held for ransom and none of them has ever heard of her before.  
**Pairing:** None (Odd/Aelita family interactions). Maybe a few hints of other pairings, but nothing official or worse than it is on the TV show.  
**Rating:** T for violence and to be on the safe side  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own neither Code Lyoko nor the definitions of the words below. I claim no ownership and this story is for entertainment purposes only.  
**A/N:** This is brought up by a conversation at Xana's Lair, though the conversation had nothing to do with hostage situations, only Aelita's identity. Also, I feel as if this is an original fic. If you know another one that is similar to this, it is not intended to copy. I will be posting another story based off this conversation soon. This is my first story on this account, I am not the usual story poster here.  
**A/N2: **All definitions are from dictionary . com unless otherwise stated by me. This is more like a prologue. Things start happening towards the end, and in future chapters. I just felt like establishing some background information around the Della Robbia family since they play a crucial part in this.

* * *

Hostage: a person given or held as security for the fulfillment of certain conditions or terms, promises, etc., by another.

Situation: the state of affairs; combination of circumstances.

* * *

Kidnap: to steal, carry off, or abduct by force or fraud, esp. for use as a hostage or to extract ransom.

* * *

If you asked any Della Robbia to describe his or her family as a whole, they would smile first and lose focus, as if just thought of the family brought memories of joy strong enough for the one who is remembering to lose awareness of the present.

You might wonder what they are thinking of. That depends on the person. It might be the grandfather of the person in question letting him or her sit on his lap as he read a story. It might the holiday traditions that they celebrate every year. It might be a particular game played with cousins or how they helped each other get through a hard time.

Or it might be the food, as one particular Della Robbia at a particular boarding school loved. Of course, he also loved the whole family things, but really, they made the best food.

The Della Robbias were huge, with many of them in different countries. They all had a few things in common: their love of food and their loud mouths. Most also had the tendency to not really think before acting and ended up spreading rumors without the full story.

This caused problems, as each one of them sometimes heard a different version of the same event. As a result, they really didn't know much about their ancestors. One late grandfather could have been a poor country boy who made his living by farming in one version of a story, while the same man could have been an exiled prince on a different side of the world who was lucky enough to escape the country with his fortune at nightfall in a different version. And these were both told by the same person.

If you started getting cousins and aunts and uncles involved the you couldn't tell truth from fiction.

Because they all suffered from an identity problem and lived all over the world, they just decided to be every ethnicity that they could, and they were pretty sure that by now, enough countries had mixed in for them to rightfully say so. Names changed too as people got married or decided Della Robbia was too troubling for a name. There were some people that showed up at every reunion who the majority of the family wasn't quite sure that they were really related.

They didn't really care though. They just brought all types of food, told all types of family tails and passed everything they did off as some sort of cultural tradition or another. They were a crazy family who really didn't care for rules. Some were convicts on the run, some were politicians and police. The only things that was a known fact was that they were prone to switching where they came from, they were a huge family, and somehow, they all ended up with a huge inheritance (whether or not all the money was legally gained is still a mystery).

This diversity could be a blessing or a curse. For Odd, it made it hard to figure out who his cousin was and who wasn't his cousin, which meant that he had to ask Jeremy to get a full family tree of every girl in Kadic and some of the surrounding school (thank goodness there weren't a lot of Della Robbias running around in France). But it also made it very easy to hide a new cousin in the mix, so when the question came up as to how Aelita was going to hide and create a new identity, Odd had the perfect solution.

So Aelita became Odd's cousin, even though she wasn't, and no one noticed or cared. They had it so that Odd's parents were to be contacted in emergencies and all other official business went to a box at the post office Jeremy had set up where they would take care of all business, not that there was a lot. Between the four of her friends, they had managed to somehow get enough money to pay for Kadic, though it had been relatively for Jeremy to make it look as though all the money was there, even when some of it wasn't.

It seemed like the perfect solution to a big problem, and it was. Until one day.

The day in question was a stormy, spring day.

Aelita held a jacket above her head to avoid the rain as much as she could as she ran towards the school. "Stupid notebook…" she muttered darkly to herself.

She had jotted down notes down carefully in it for the past few months, making sure that they were neat and easily readable, and now that she had a test coming up, she needed it to study she had left it sitting on the desk.

She walked into the dark, deserted school building with her eyes flicking at every sound and movement. The lightning made the shadows appear and disappear, as if they were moving. Aelita's walk turned into a sprint as she grabbed the notebook and without looking at anything but her path, turned around and ran back towards the dorms.

Odd's and Ulrich's dorm had turned into the unofficial hangout zone of the Lyoko Warriors. While Jeremy's room was great for meeting to discuss Xana since it had the computer, Odd and Ulrich had the biggest collection of things to do.

As she ran back through campus, Aelita longed for the warmth and the light that their room would provide. How it would feel cozy and secluded thanks to the storm raging outside. How being with her friends would make her wish the storm lasted forever and she never had to leave, only to be disappointed when it did.

Finally, she ducked inside the dorm building and ran up to the boys' floor. Smiling, she stood in front of the door she knew belonged to her two friends and in which the rest were inside. She raised her hand to knock, only to feel it grabbed by one hand as the other arm wrapped around her and pulled her away. Her notebook fell to the ground with a soft thunk.

Another set of arms quickly stuffed a gag into her mouth before she could scream. Aelita struggled ferociously against the people trying to capture her. She didn't know if this was Odd's and Ulrich's idea of a prank, because it was not funny. If it was them, she planned to give them a piece of her mind and maybe stop talking to them for a while.

"Aelita Stones?" a voice from someone behind her asked. Her heart sunk. She didn't recognize the voice.

He turned her around so he could look at her. He was wearing a ski mask and it would have been funny if Aelita wasn't so terrified. "Are you Aelita Stones?" he repeated.

She didn't answer, but the look in her eye was all he needed as a confirmation. "We got her," he said to his accomplice and before she could react, Aelita's eyes were blindfolded and she was lead away, still struggling unsuccessful and unable to make a sound.

* * *

A/N: Please, please, please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hostage Situation  
****Chapter Two  
****Disclaimer: **See Chapter One  
**A/N: **Okay, I can honestly admit that I do not live in France. Thus, I don't know their laws around missing people. Believe me, I tried to look it up. If you happen to know this law and the protocols, feel free to send a PM or review telling me. I'm going off of guesses here. This applies to this chapter, the next, and probably the chapter after that. Please review this chapter, and remember, things start getting more interesting in a few chapters or so. This is mostly just the set up. I have a tendency to make the set ups last for a few chapters. I hope I don't bore you all to death.

* * *

Disappearance: the act or an instance of disappearing; a ceasing to be seen or to exist.

* * *

Odd's and Ulrich's room was the picture of friends just hanging out. Ulrich and Yumi sat on Ulrich's bed, talking, while Odd was on one edge of his own, leaning against the wall, playing his video game while throwing in the occasional comment to the conversation his other two friends were having.

Jeremy was at the other end of Odd's bed and had managed to get his laptop and bring it before he was dragged out of his room by Yumi and Odd, and was probably working on something, while also listening to the conversation, just not participating. Though he would occasionally snicker at something that was said. When Aelita got back, she would sit in-between Odd and Jeremy, alternating between helping Jeremy with his program, watching Odd play his game, reading a book, and also occasionally talking to her friends on the other bed.

The room was brightly lit, and with the dark clouds and raging storm outside, was the picture of friendship and laziness. Even though everyone was doing their own personal thing, the communal lack of socialness was how they were social with them all doing whatever they felt like doing, only enjoying it more than they would since they were in the company of friends.

Fifteen minutes after Aelita had left, Jeremy dug out his cell phone. "I'm going to see what's taking Aelita so long," he said, "she left a while ago, she should be back by now unless something came up."

There were scattered nods from the other three nods in agreement, as Ulrich's and Yumi's conversation had taken on an interesting tone that was both borderline deep and random. It may have even had some intelligence in it that the two friends didn't possess on a conscious level. Odd was engrossed in his game as he had reached a new level and wasn't fit or anyone to talk to him about.

Jeremy called Aelita, and her cell phone rang before going to voicemail. _Hello. You've reached Aelita Stones. I'm not here right, but if you leave a message, I'll be sure to call you back._ As usual, there was music in the background as she spoke and Odd and Ulrich arguing, though you couldn't make out what they were shouting about. Jeremy had tried to convince her to change it, though she said it caught the quirkiness of their friendship, and decided to leave it.

"That's weird," Jeremy muttered to himself.

"What's weird, Einstein?" Odd asked, eyes still on the game. Jeremy jumped. He hadn't expected anyone to hear, let alone answer him. "Oh, it's nothing Odd, it's just that Aelita isn't back yet and she didn't answer her phone. She's probably just waiting out the rain and couldn't here her phone ringing over the storm. I'll call her again in a bit."

Odd nodded. "That's probably right, I'll keep my ear out for any of our cell phones ringing. Cause you know, Romeo and Juliet over there couldn't here anything in their lovebird conversation."

A pillow flew across the room and hit Odd in the ear. Odd just smiled at Jeremy and ignored the fact that he had been attacked, as if it had never even happened. Then he went back to his game, Ulrich went back to his conversation, and Jeremy went back to the computer.

Fifteen minutes after that, Jeremy was starting to get really worried. When it was twenty minutes after Jeremy had confessed his fears to Odd, he stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Odd asked.

"To find Aelita."

Odd paused and laid it to the side on the bed and got up. "I'll go with you. It'll be a good thing to have two sets of eyes looking."

Jeremy nodded and the two friends set off, with Odd chattering. Ulrich and Yumi smiled at Odd's annoying tendencies and waited for Odd's voice to fade off as the two walked farther and farther away. It didn't take long for the voice to die out. In fact, it happened almost instantaneously. There wasn't a sound, not even footsteps.

Yumi, looked confused and got up to see what had caused Odd and Jeremy to stop walking and talking. They had stopped right outside the door and were looking down. She walked to them as Odd bent down and picked the object they were looking at up.

It was the notebook Aelita had gone looking for.

"She was here," Jeremy said to himself. "Why didn't she come back in, and why did she leave her notebook?"

"I don't know," Yumi said, "maybe she realized that she had forgotten something else and had gone to get it. She could also be getting something from her dorm. Or maybe it hadn't been left in the classroom at all, and she dropped it here and didn't notice so she's still looking. There could be any reason."

Jeremy didn't look convinced. "Then why wouldn't she tell us, or answer my call? It doesn't make any sense. What if…"

"Jeremy," Ulrich said, "I know what you're thinking and don't worry. Xana hasn't launched an attack. We beat him and he isn't coming back. Plus, you have your laptop with you, it would have told us. She probably just forgot something, like Yumi said. And her phone may be lost; we don't know for sure that she had it with her when she came here."

Ulrich decidedly left out the fact that the group always had their cell phones on them, in case of an emergency or something more sinister. Jeremy would figure that out himself, if he didn't already know. But there was no point worrying, not when they had nothing to prove other than a hunch.

Hours passed, and Jeremy was getting fidgety. Odd kept glancing at the door whenever he heard a sound, and Yumi was fingering her cell phone, ready to start the conversation as soon as there was a ring. Ulrich was the picture of calm. He was sitting without talking and keeping his eyes closed. Not that he wasn't tempted to open his eyes, walk to the door, and scan the hallway for signs of life.

The first hour after the conversation had passed, and all other activities had died out since then. They sat in silence, avoiding eye contact, masking their worry, though Ulrich was the only convincing one. Odd had a bad feeling in his gut, though he didn't know why.

Odd got up and volunteered to go check out Aelita's room, even though they were certain she wasn't in there. Ulrich decided to go with him. They both checked, and there was no sign of their pink haired friend. Then, they took a detour to the building Aelita had been going to. After quickly checking every classroom with a quick glance inside any closets, they determined Aelita wasn't in. They called and told Jeremy the news before they quickly looked around the school grounds, even taking the sewer tunnels to the factory.

Aelita was no where to be found.

* * *

Nothing you didn't already know. Please review. If you noticed any mistakes, tell me. Constructive Criticism is great, helps me become a better writer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, actiony stuff starts around chapter five or six, but these chapters are important too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hostage Situation**

**Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One

**A/N: Eek! **Sorry for the wait. I could tell you what got in the way, but that wouldn't be an excuse. Thanks to all those who reviewed! Here's the next chapter. Please review! Oh, and I think it'll start getting more action filled in the time to come, I like taking this semi-slow.

* * *

Search: to go or look through (a place, area, etc.) carefully in order to find something missing or lost

Party: a group gathered for a special purpose or task

Search Party: a group of persons conducting an organized search for someone or something lost or hidden.

* * *

With a sigh of defeat, Odd and Ulrich returned to the room, shaking their heads. Jeremy stood up, and walked out the door. The three remaining friends gave each other looks of confusion and simultaneously followed Jeremy out the door. He didn't listen to their shouts of questions.

They followed him right to the door of the principal's office. When he was allowed to walk in, they walked in right behind him, ready to back him up on whatever he was going to say.

"Aelita is missing."

Delmas gave Jeremy an incredulous look. Yumi decided to take over, since she was generally more believable and able to convince others than Jeremy was. "We were hanging out in Odd and Ulrich's room," she said, "and Aelita went into the school to get a book that she had forgotten."

"How could she get in; the school's always locked?" Delmas asked.

"Well, there's a side door that really isn't," Ulrich explained, "it's hard to get in and you have to apply pressure, and at first it seems like it is locked, but it is never really locked." He shrugged. "I thought you and the staff knew about it."

"Okay, I see your point, now continue."

Yumi started talking again, "she forgot the notebook and wanted to study a bit before the test, since it's a three day weekend. She should have been gone for fifteen minutes tops. But it's been hours. Odd and Ulrich went out and looked everywhere, and we found this." Yumi gingerly lifted up the notebook. She was holding it in a tissue, at Jeremy's suggestion, just in case the situation was worse than it seemed.

"What is it?" the principal asked.

"It's the notebook that Aelita went to look for, and it wasn't there before she left. Plus, we can't get reach her cell phone, it keeps going to voicemail!"

"Not answering a cell phone isn't the cause for concern."

"Aelita always answers her cell phone, sir," Ulrich said. "This is really weird for her. And she wouldn't run away on her own, she's not that type of girl. She loves it here, and she loves learning, she doesn't have a reason to run away."

"So you believe that she really is missing. Why do you think she is gone? Do you think it's kidnapping or just getting lost?"

"Well, it was storming pretty hard, she might have taken shelter somewhere and gotten trapped," Odd said. "Or, someone might just have seen her and felt like kidnapping her. But no matter what, we can't waste any time!"

Delmas sighed and ran his hand over his face. "As soon as this storm clears up, we can have a search party. But it would just be the students, no one else, understand? It's too early to contact the authorities, but that doesn't mean that we can't get started looking. But we are not going out in this storm."

The four teens nodded and went back to the dorm to start rounding up the other students who decided to stay at school to help them as soon as the storm cleared. They met in the cafeteria where Rosa supplied food. There wasn't a ton of people, only Sissi, Herve, Nicolas, Milly, Tamiya, Theo, William, and some others who the gang did not personally know. When Odd caught up to Sissi and raised his eyebrow, she sighed, "well, Mrs. Einstein is in trouble and not even I'm heartless enough not to look. Plus, what would you guys say if I didn't look." She glared at Odd and walked away.

They waited in the cafeteria, recharging cell phones and taking each other's numbers so that they could call if they found anything. Jim, Principal Delmas, Mrs. Hertz, and two other teachers arranged to take a group of students and search. They waited for the storm to let up. Yumi called her parents and explained the situation to them. They sighed and allowed her to look, but only if she got back.

The storm finally lost intensity about an hour later, and they set out to look. The ground was mushy and Sissi was complaining about her boots being ruined. She was in a group with Herve, Nicolas, and her father since her attempts at being in Ulrich's group was crushed.

The Lyoko Warriors were all in a group with Jim. They searched the area around the entrance to the sewers, and purposely made sure Jim didn't come close to it. They all looked for about an hour, using flashlights and sometimes even their cell phones to guide their way as they searched for clues. The night was almost absolutely silent, with only the treading of their feet and the sounds of nature being noise. It was calm, almost serene.

Then, Jim's cell phone burst to life.

Jim jumped at the unexpected sounds, as did everyone close to him. He grabbed his phone and spoke. After he was finished, he turned it off and faced the group he was in charge with. "The found a cell phone, you guys need to confirm if it's Aelita's or not."

The group jogged over to where the cell phone had been found. Tamiya was holding it. Milly was standing close by to her friend, visibly shaken.

Yumi noticed that it was Mrs. Hertz's group, and that she had all of her group members wearing gloves. She walked over and asked if everyone in her group could have a pair. Hertz nodded and gave them the correct amount of gloves.

Yumi put them on and picked the phone up from Milly. She turned it over. It was definitely Aelita's, there was no doubt about that. It looked like Aelita had tried dialing a number. A closer look revealed that the number that Aelita had been attempting to call was the number for emergency services.

She showed it to Jim, Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich. She closed her eyes and her grip on the phone tightened. When she opened them up, her friends were still there, concern for their friend evident. Yumi sighed and began to speak.

"Something happened, and whatever it was, Aelita felt like she needed to call the police."

And everyone present, whether they were friends with Aelita or not gulped nervously. Because everyone present heard the unspoken message that was said.

_Aelita is in danger_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hostage Situation  
****Chapter Four  
****Disclaimer: **See Chapter One  
**A/N: **Well, sorry about the wait. I just found I lacked the encouragement to write, but I'll try to get back on track. I hope you like this one!

* * *

Ransom: the redemption of a prisoner, slave, or kidnapped person, of captured goods, etc., for a price.

Note: brief written or printed statement giving particulars or information.

* * *

Jeremy, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich were sitting in the police station, waiting to be questioned. This annoyed the group because as they would do anything to help Aelita but they had already told multiple people the events that happened and no matter how many times they repeated it, it would stay the same.

They weren't being accused either. They all had solid alibis, and some students remember them being in the room. Aelita's fresh fingerprints were also found on the door of the school that she most likely entered and exited, not to mention the door of the classroom her book was in.

They kept being prodded to remember things that they couldn't do anymore. Yumi had recited almost half of her and Ulrich's conversation and the sounds of Odd's games. Jeremy could mimic everything he had done on the computer to the keystroke. Odd was only too happy to redo the levels in his video games the exact way that he had, but none of what they had mentioned had helped.

It was when Odd mentioned that he heard some people walk by his room about seven minutes after Aelita left that he realized that he hadn't remembered everything. He said he had heard some talking, as if they had stopped and talked outside the door.

An interview had been done. No one had been talking when they walked past the door. Odd had been the only one who could really help Aelita. Fortunately for him, his story reminded Jeremy that he too had heard the conversation, since it made him mad since he had been about to finish what he was working on, but the sudden noise had made him loose his train of thought.

They were all getting sick of the questioning. To the group, it just seemed as if they were out doing something, maybe looking, that it would do more good than sitting in a station waiting and not talking. Their three day weekend would be over tomorrow, and then they would have to return to school, and they wouldn't be able to look then.

"Why would someone want to kidnap Aelita?" Jeremy asked, breaking the tense silence between the four friends. "I mean, she hasn't been on earth long enough to make anyone mad, except Xana, but he didn't activate the tower."

"I don't know," Odd said, "it's not like she's some spy and living a double life that we don't know about. Actually, that would be a triple life, and I don't think any of us could do that."

"Odd has a point though," Yumi said, "I mean, we know about her, but we don't know everything about her. There's probably something that she did or has done that she didn't tell us about."

"But something big enough that would make someone else want to kidnap her?" Jeremy asked, "That's impossible. We would know that. We might not know the small things, but not the huge things."

"Maybe not," Ulrich said, "people don't mind telling others the small things, but if it's something big, you might not tell someone."

"The skeleton in the closet," Odd said, "or your mother of all secrets. Ulrich has a point, if it's small, then what do you loose by telling someone."

"But if it's big," Yumi continued, "then there is more to lose. Let's go with the assumption that Aelita's hiding something from us and that's why she's missing. Well, if it was big enough that people would kidnap her then she wouldn't tell us because she would want to keep us safe. It makes sense."

"But when would she have time to go off and somehow get a huge secret like this or get tangled up into something?" Jeremy asked. "It doesn't make any sense!" He sighed angrily and stormed away.

"Where are you going?" Yumi asked, running to catch up with him.

Jeremy pushed her aside, "I'm going to the vending machines. I just need some time alone to think." He walked faster, leaving Yumi behind. She went and rejoined Ulrich and Odd.

"This is hitting him hard," she said, "I'm sort of worried."

"Of course it is," Odd said, shrugging, "he's worried about Aelita. We'll fine her and then he'll go back to normal, you'll see."

"So, why do you think Aelita did get kidnapped?" Ulrich asked, "I mean, no matter what Einstein says, we live a double life and no one else notices, and there's a lot of time we spend hanging out, but there's a lot of time we don't. And none of us knows what each other do when no one's around."

"So you really think that Aelita's hiding something?" Odd asked.

"If she isn't hiding something from us, it's from the rest of the world," Ulrich said. "And she might not do it intentionally, she may think that it's nothing, when really, it's something important."

"You have a point there," Yumi said. She looked at Odd, who was looking down the hall at something.

"What do you think, Odd?" she asked.

Odd turned back to Yumi, though his eyes kept flicking to the hallway. "I have a feeling about the whole secret thing, but I have got to agree with the Einstein. I don't think Aelita was keeping anything from us. Not to say that she can't, because I think she could, but this whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"Well, our friend is missing, I don't think anyone's mouth would agree with that," Ulrich pointed out.

"Well you know, I just think we're missing something, that's all," Odd said, "like this is either bigger or smaller or just different that what we think." Odd looked down the hall again, this time more obvious than the times before that. Confusion was evident on his face.

"What is it, Odd?" Ulrich asked, "you've been looking down that hallway the entire time we've been talking since Jeremy left."

"Oh, I'm just wondering why my parents are here, that's all," Odd said, nonchalantly.

Ulrich's and Yumi's head whipped around to look down the hall. Ulrich recognized the two right away from the time when he went to Odd's house over the summer. Yumi, who had never seen them before was just interested.

They walked down the hallway, and Odd noticed that they were with a police officer. Odd's mom saw Odd first and walked over and gave him a hug. The two separated, and Odd's father turned and faced him. He held up a picture of Aelita.

"Odd, do you know this young lady?"

"Yeah, of course. She's a friend of mine. She went missing two days ago."

"I know," Odd's father said.

Odd was about to say something, when he sent his father a confused glance. It matched both Yumi's and Ulrich's. Yumi recovered first.

"How do you know, Mr. Della Robbia?" she asked.

"Because," Odd's father said, "we received this," he pulled a sheet of paper and handed it to the three teens, "this morning."

Written on the paper was a simple message, clear as day.

_We have Aelita. 1.5 million USD before you see her again. We will be in contact._

It was a ransom note.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hostage Situation  
****Chapter Five  
****Disclaimer: **See Chapter One  
**A/N: **What's this, an update?

I love you guys and I am a horrible person. I was going through all the Odd related stories, when I saw this, and I looked at the date, and I was like… oops. And then I noticed how many reviews I got last chapter, and I pretty much was very guilty and got this out as soon as I could. And then someone anonymously reviewed and there were favorites and alerts, and I just wanted to say "I swear, it's coming out on Friday! I have had this planned."

From now on, I'm going to try to post once every other week. Key word: try. We shall see how this works out.

* * *

Confession: acknowledgment; avowal; admission. Acknowledgment or disclosure of sin or sinfulness, especially to a priest to obtain absolution.

* * *

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd looked at one another, shock on their faces. Now that it was completely proven that Aelita had been kidnapped. But a new mystery was left in its wake. Why did Odd's parents get the ransom note?

Odd's parents apparently had the same confusion that the friends had. His mom took the note back and looked at it. "We don't even know who Aelita was, but when we got the call from your school, we figured that it was too much to be a coincidence. Aelita is not a very common name, after all. He didn't explain much, so we had no time to ask why he called us and not the poor girl's parents."

Jeremy came back from vending machines, staring at the adults in front of him. "Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, what's going on?" he asked.

"Uh…Jeremy, these are my parents. They got the ransom note for Aelita," Odd said, awkwardly.

Jeremy stared at Odd. "Aelita was kidnapped and your parents were given the ransom note?" He looked confused for a minute, trying to figure out why Odd's parents would get the note. Then, everything snapped together in his brain. "Oh."

Yumi nodded solemnly. "We had it that Aelita's parents died in a car crash and Odd's family took custody. How were we to realize that this would happen?"

Odd's father turned and looked at him. "Son, is there something we should know about? Something that maybe you didn't tell us before? Anything, anything at all?" Odd cringed at the stare his father gave him, it didn't look angry or upset, just curious. Curious about both what was going on and why his son was hiding something from him."

Odd looked at his friends for support. The support he longed for was not given in their return gazes. They were blank with bits of confusion to as how this happened and nervous on how this would play out. Odd turned to Jeremy. Jeremy seemed nervous, but accepting of the fact as he gave Odd a slight nod that would have been missed by almost anyone else.

"I'll tell you dad," Odd said, "but I can't tell you everything, not now. And I want to do it alone with just you and mom and my friends."

The police officer objected, "If it can help us find your friend, we need to know about it!" But Odd's father held up a hand and turned to the officer. "If it is anything important, we will be one hundred percent sure to tell you, but right now, I think we just need some alone time."

The officer nodded, and though he didn't seem very happy about it, gestured to an empty room, saying that the group could use it. The room was small with a table in the middle. The two adult Della Robbias led the way into the room.

The four friends looked at eachother. "We have to lie," Yumi whispered, "it's the only way!"

Jeremy and Ulrich nodded. Odd looked uncomfortably at them. "I don't know guys, they're my parents."

"But we can't tell anyone about Lyoko," Jeremy hissed. "Think of what would happen."

"Plus, you're a pretty good actor," Yumi said. "And what they don't know can't possibly hurt them."

Mister Della Robbia showed up at the door. "Do you kids plan on coming in any time soon?" he asked, his voice stern.

The group nodded and sent Odd imploring looks and they all filed in without talking and Odd sat down with his parents at one end. The officer turned and left. As soon as he was gone, Yumi went and shut the door and her, Ulrich, and Jeremy sat down, a little bit away from where Odd and his parents had sat at a table.

"Odd," his mother said, "What is this all about? I respect that you want privacy, but the police officers are here to help you."

Odd sighed, and without looking at them, began to speak. "Well, me and my friends, we found Aelita one day. She didn't know who she was or anything. We asked around and stuff, but no one knew. The police looked, but there was no missing persons report filed. There's no birth certificate, no nothing. She said she'd been living on the streets for as long as she can remember."

Odd looked at his parents for a second and was glad to see sympathy in their eyes. He stared at the table again and started speaking, "But by then, we were her friends. So Jeremy did some hacking and made her part of our family and gave us a birth certificate and everything. She's registered as my cousin."

Odd looked up at his parents, his eyes wide that gave him a look of innocence and remorse and Ulrich suddenly understood how Odd could get almost anything he ever wanted. "We didn't realize we were doing anything wrong. We just wanted to help a friend."

Odd's father ran a hand over his face and sighed. "I can't blame you for that, son. Given the opportunity, I probably would have done the same thing. Some things are more important than rules; and friendship is one of them. But you should have at least told your mother and me."

"I know," Odd said, "but we were afraid that you would say no and that she'd have to go back to living on the streets."

Odd's mother put her hand on Odd's shoulder and forced him to look at her. "Odd, honey, we may have been skeptical, but we could have helped you. I mean, look at who your cousins are! Look at Michelle! She could have figured this whole thing out for you in less than a minute!"

"Well, I can certainly see why you chose our family. I mean, it's not like sticking an extra person or two in it would be a hard thing," his father said. He whipped his head to look directly at Odd. "This is the only one, right? I don't have twenty new nieces and nephews running around?"

Odd nodded, "it's just Aelita. She's the only one. I mean, we had to create a new sister for you, but it's really thoroughly done."

"You didn't do all this hacking by yourself, did you?" his mom asked.

Ulrich decided to come into the conversation. "No, Mrs. Della Robbia," he said politely, "Jeremy did. He's really good on the computer."

Jeremy raised his hand and grinned sheepishly, "sorry about messing with your family. No one was supposed to find out, at least, not like this."

"We didn't talk to the police officer much," Mrs. Della Robbia said. "We can tell him that it was our niece and that we were just acting that confused because of grief. We didn't talk to him a whole lot, so he may not have gotten why we were confused anyway. I don't condone it, but it's something that has to be done, and it might just make them work faster. In the meantime, Odd, you have a test coming up soon, so I hope you're prepared. And if not, I would get that way. Go out and get your book."

Her expression was unreadable as she looked at her soon, a silent message being sent.

Odd paled, taking the subtle hint that it was his cue to leave, and rushed out of the room.

Mr. Della Robbia looked at the three remaining friends. "Don't think for a second that we don't know that that wasn't the full truth," he said, "and we will find it out. But if that girl is enough for you to risk getting in trouble over, then we'll help. And the last thing we need is the police investigating other matters of this. The truth will come out, eventually, don't worry about that. Do you understand?"

The friends nodded and looked at each other. Yumi had a frown on her face and her forehead was creased in though. Mrs. Della Robbia seemed to notice her discomfort. "Yumi, right?"

Yumi nodded.

"Ah, well, do you have a problem?"

As she asked this, Odd, sensing that enough time had taken place, walked back. In he was smiling sheepishly and holding a book. Noticing a conversation was taking place, he quickly moved out the way and watched what was going on.

"Well, we're just trying to find out why Aelita would be kidnapped. I mean, it's not like someone from her past wants her, since she doesn't really have a past. Everyone she's ever met likes her, well, Sissi doesn't, but that understandable. She doesn't have any enemies. So why did she get kidnapped."

"Just like the ransom note said, they want money."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, you do have the money, right?"

Odd's father shrugged. "Our immediate family has a lot of inheritance, and we really are lucky people, but one point five million American dollars is really pushing it. We don't have that much. We might ask some extended relatives for help, and we probably will. But generally, the Della Robbias are known for having wealth."

Ulrich stared at Odd, though his question was directed at the other boy's parents. "So it's common knowledge that you guys are wealthy, I understand that, Kadic isn't cheap. But is it really enough to make someone go after you?"

Odd answered, "it might be. I don't think it is. I mean, your father owns a company and makes more than my family does. It's just, you know, the whole Della Robbia thing. I can't understand why someone would go after Aelita just for our family when they could go after you or Jeremy or anyone. I mean, my immediate family is not really well known for this sort of thing, you know. Not especially, anyway."

Odd's mother nodded, "Della Robbia, the name itself means more to some people than how much we truly have. We have a history of…deeds. No one knows for sure, but stories spread, and rumors get exaggerated, you know how it is. But they probably didn't choose Aelita for any particular reason other than she was convenient. Then they probably found out who she was related too and sent the ransom note to us."

"Wait!" Yumi said. "Does this mean that they might have gone after Odd too?"

Mrs. Della Robbia shrugged and looked at the group of friends before looking down. "I honestly don't know. Something like this has never happened before, at least not to us. But we can only assume that if they were after the Della Robbia name, then Odd may have been a target, depending on who was more convenient at the time."

"And he may still be one," Ulrich muttered.

The group stared at him, with Odd glaring. "Well," Odd said. "I'm not going to let them get me, no way! Not after they took Aelita. We'll get her back and catch the bad guys and it'll all be great!"

Ulrich nodded, still staring at Odd. "Well, we better find her, or round up the money."

Odd's parents got up and stared at Odd as they walked out, telling him with their eyes to follow. He reluctantly did, but sent a longing gaze back at his friends. They watched him go as his parents talked quietly to him. Jeremy, Ulrich, and Yumi stayed put until the older two Della Robbias left.

"Who knew Odd's family had a name or were important or rich," Yumi said.

Ulrich looked up and sighed. "It's not that weird. I mean, Odd has a nice house, and boarding at Kadic is pretty expensive. I mean, it's a nice school for boarders. It's the same for any of us, really. My father is an important business person, whether I like it or not. Jeremy's parents are both heads of a software company. Your family isn't extremely wealthy," he said to Yumi, "but your parents have good jobs and have been saving up. It could have been any of us." He shrugged. "I get the feeling that he's related to people with money more than he actually has money."

The group unconsciously moved closer together, as if the thought scared them. Which it did, because one friend was already missing and the thought of any of them getting in the same predicament was a scary thought.

Odd came back in, with an ashen face. "After this is over, I'm going to have to tell them about Lyoko. They support me and what I do, but they like to know about it." He sighed and turned around, facing the door.

"We're not going to get out of this one, guys."

* * *

A/N: I wasn't the fondest of this chapter, but it had to be done. And it'd be silly to think Odd's parents wouldn't know, especially since presumably Kadic would have contacted them and they would have received the ransom. More to come soon.

I promise. (I have the next chapter written already.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Hostage Situation**

**Chapter Six**

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One

**A/N: **yeah, that plan worked out. Sorry for the delay. Honestly, do I even still have readers after that last stunt? Do I even deserve them? I'm not going to make any promises about the next one, since promises don't really work.

* * *

I am really sorry though, I really am.

Protection: the act of protecting or the state of being protected; preservation from injury or harm.

Detail: attention to or treatment of a subject in individual or minute parts:

* * *

Never let it be said that Jeremy didn't do his work thoroughly and well. Jeremy had invented a new sister for Odd Della Robbia's father. The sister, Maria Della Robbia had met Daniel Stones on a trip to Canada in which she was studying (medicine) abroad. They had both been immediately interested in one another, and after a few years of dating, had engaged and finally married.

They went on a honeymoon to France, Paris to be precise. However, they had explored much of the other towns, and had conveniently ended up in the town Kadic was. That, combined with a fake savings account that Jeremy set up, lead anyone to believe that their original intention was to send Aelita to Kadic using Maria's inheritance.

A few years into their Marriage, Aelita had been born.

Maria and Daniel had both died in an accident, which coincided with the Della Robbia's family reunion. This was purposely done by Jeremy to make it look like all of the family was traveling in one place. If anyone was looking, it would seem as if they had just been traveling to a funeral. Throw in a few altered documents showing the possession of Aelita passing to Odd's family and a couple of doctored photos with both the Della Robbias and Aelita and he was good to go.

It wasn't supposed to have backfired.

Jeremy himself was lying on his bed. He had been sent back earlier that evening- they all had. The principle, Odd's parents, the police officers… All of them could see the emotional toll this was taking on the group of friends.

Jim had driven them back, and the car ride had been silent. He turned the radio on low, letting the sounds of whatever was on play through the car. Jeremy hadn't paid attention. He didn't look at any of them; he couldn't.

If he had done his job then none of this would have happened. Aelita would still be with them. But she wasn't, because he didn't think to look through Odd's family for any potential problems. How was he supposed to know there would be a stupid kidnapping or ransom. It wasn't supposed to end like this.

So when the car pulled up, he shuffled to his room, ignoring the words from his friends and walking faster so that he could avoid them.

And now here he was. He lied on his bed in despair as Aelita was probably fighting for her life. Never before had he felt more useless. He couldn't investigate the scene, the police were there and the media was getting word out, nothing of any use involved computers or academics or smartness of any kind.

There was a knock on the door and Ulrich came in. He sat on Jeremy's bed and faced the same way that Jeremy faced. They were silent for a while. Finally, Ulrich spoke.

"We can't be like this, Jeremy," he said.

Jeremy decided not to respond, but Ulrich seemed to have expected that and continued on. "We can't all just fall apart, I mean, that's not how we go. We're Lyoko Warriors, we can't fall apart."

Ulrich kept speaking, "we've faced things worse than this, we've faced death before, and we did that with no one's help."

"But we always knew what to do then," Jeremy mumbled. "We knew all we had to do was deactivate the tower and it would all be fine. We knew who our enemy was- Xana. We knew how to do everything. This is…different."

"But it can have the same result. We can find Aelita. We're going against an actual human now, and they can't even possess people like Xana can. We can fix this."

"I guess," Jeremy said.

"So what's wrong?" Ulrich asked. "Because you acting like this isn't going to help Aelita at all. And what happens when she does come back? Do you want her know that all we did was lay around depressed, or do you want to tell her that we searched and searched and never stopped looking?"

"It's just," Jeremy said, "it wasn't supposed to end like this. Not at all."

"How was it supposed to end?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't know," Jeremy said. "We took a risk when we connected Aelita to an actual person or family. So, I didn't know how this was going to end. Somewhere along the way, his parents would probably find out, but I always sort of thought that it would be much later and we'd be prepared for it."

"We never really thought it could end well," Ulrich pointed out.

"But we hoped it would."

Ulrich shrugged. "True. But here's another question. We live in a world where Aelita is somehow related to you. There isn't a single enemy of the Belpois family and you and Aelita live in peace."

"What's the question?"

Ulrich looked towards the window, and Jeremy couldn't see his expression or face even he strained. "What happens to Odd?"

Jeremy looked down. "He gets taken instead of Aelita, probably for a different reason." He sighed. ""Probably when he's on a date with someone or travelling alone."

Ulrich nodded, "we don't notice for hours, and by that time, we assume he's just somewhere else. By the time we realize he's gone, it's too late. We don't have anything to go by."

"But that's the worse case scenario. He could be just like Aelita. Or we may even find him in time and notice while he's going away."

"Maybe, but either way you cut it, someone gets kidnapped." Ulrich slid a hand down his face and sighed. "Who knows, Odd still might get kidnapped."

Jeremy looked at Ulrich, who was still looking out the window. His posture was tense, his hands were fists, and a bit of shaking could be detected. He wasn't sure if it was anger or fear or maybe even both.

But it really wasn't that much of a mystery. "You're worried about Odd," Jeremy said gently.

"I'm worried about Aelita too, and so are you. But, yeah, I am. I mean, someone purposely went after his family, or that's what we think as far as we can tell. I mean, we can't keep Odd out of danger."

"You left him in your dorm room alone? Even though you're worried about him?"

Ulrich shook his head and held out his cell phone. Jeremy picked it up and listened in. The sounds of a video game being played could be heard.

"I took his cell phone without him knowing it, and called it. He doesn't know it's on. This way, I can make sure he's still in the room."

"You really are nervous."

"Of course I am! One of my best friends is at risk for possibly getting kidnapped, one of my friends already has been. You'd have to be insane not to be nervous. I can't let Odd get away too."

"So what are you suggesting?"

"One of us should be with Odd at all times. Even inside the dorm rooms or school. At least as much as possible."

"Do you really think they're going to go after Odd?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Ulrich said. "Why get the ransom for one Della Robbia when you can get a ransom for two Della Robbias. Especially when you could get the first one without anyone noticing and barely any evidence." He unconsciously held the phone up to his ear, something he had been doing frequently during the conversation.

"And you think one of us is going to stop them?"

"No, but at least it's a start. They might be more cautious. Maybe we can help look out for suspicious people or things. Two eyes are better than one. And we can't let them get both Odd and Aelita."

Jeremy nodded his agreement. "One of us should be with him at all times. We should tell Delmas, maybe he can give us some help."

Ulrich agreed and they went to go visit the principal. When they reached his office, Delmas was typing frantically at his computer. He looked up when he saw the two boys entering, but didn't seem surprised.

"Yes, boys?" he asked them pleasantly.

"Sir," Ulrich said, "we were thinking, maybe someone should stay with Odd most of the time, just in case."

Delmas nodded but his expression was unreadable. "I thought the same thing. The police told me it was a possibility the kidnappers might try to attack again. We have increased patrol. I don't believe in taking a chance, no matter how small the risk is. Not when it comes to one of my student's safety. I also plan to have Jim keeping an eye on things."

"Thank you sir," Jeremy said as he and Ulrich walked out. He opened the door to the outside of the office. "We really appreciate it. And…uh, is there any news on Aelita yet?"

Principal Delmas shook his head and Jeremy let the door slam shut.

* * *

Meanwhile, in his bedroom, Odd held the cell phone up to his ear. The sounds were muffled, but he could make out the conversation that was being spoken…both of them.

He clenched his eyes shut. They didn't have to do this. He was fine by himself!

He kept playing his game while listening, knowing Ulrich needed the reassurance, if nothing else.

Since when had Aelita been kidnapped for being human and since when was Ulrich sneaking around and spying on Odd because he was worried? Since when was Jim stalking him because hadn't done anything wrong…okay, scratch that. Since when was Jim stalking him to protect him?

The world had gone topsy turvy and as far as he could tell, it would take a near miracle to turn it right side up again.

Kiwi came over to him and whimpered. "Don't worry boy," Odd said, absentmindedly scratching his pet's ears. "We'll find Aelita. She'll be fine, you'll see."

He set his open phone down where he had found it and walked over to his bed. "I mean, the kidnappers said that they would be in touch and they wanted a ransom, so it's not like they'll kill her."

He laid down and pretended to sleep, all while ignoring the fact that when Ulrich finally came back, he stared at Odd for a while before whispering something that Odd couldn't hear. And Odd ignored the fact that when Kiwi walked over to him, Ulrich picked him up and let the dog sleep with him all night.

Odd ignored the fact that this scared him more than anything and that everything had changed in one weekend.

* * *

Ulrich had presumably told Odd about the protection detail, Yumi decided. Jeremy had briefed her before the other two boys got to the cafeteria. She had rushed to Kadic so that she could talk to him in somewhat private. No way was she going to fight through the crowds filled with whispering and pity.

The tension between Odd and Ulrich was clear that morning at breakfast from the moment they walked down. Odd was in front of Ulrich and walking fast with his mouth steadfastly shut. Ulrich was keeping up with Odd, trying to get around him and talking constantly.

They got into line in much the same formation. Then, they sat down at the table, Ulrich still talking about random things (apparently, there had at one time been a feud between the two involving plastic flamingos) and trying to get Odd to talk to him.

Odd ate his food, while grabbing a breakfast roll off of Ulrich's plate and proceeding to eat it without asking any questions. Ulrich either didn't notice or didn't care.

Jeremy sensed the disagreement but was too busy picking at his own food to notice Odd's and Ulrich's predicament. And Yumi watched as three of her best friends fell apart.

So she decided to take action.

"Okay guys," she said. "I know you are all worried about Aelita, I am too, but we just can't let this tear us all apart, which it is doing. We still have another day of break. I vote we go to Odd and Ulrich's room and just talk these things over."

"What will that do?" Jeremy asked gloomily. We already told the police everything that we know. I just don't know what else we can do. I feel so helpless…"

"Hey there," Yumi soothed, putting her hands on Jeremy's shoulders. "We may not be able to help find Aelita, but we can stay together and we can never stop looking. That way, when Aelita comes home, she has something to come home to."

She looked at her friends a bit. Odd was looking away from both her and Ulrich, Jeremy was looking down, Ulrich was staring at her thoughtfully. "We're Aelita's family," she whispered. "We have to be here for her. We're all she's got."

"Not exactly," Odd said quietly. "She's got my entire family too. I'm not sure, but I figure that once you're captured because you're a Della Robbia, you are a Della Robbia. Seems like fair game to me."

* * *

The talk in the room went well. All the feeling that had been bottled up were let out a little bit and everyone emerged a teeny bit happier and less desperate.

Odd still thoroughly disapproved of protection, Ulrich still acted like a concerned mother, Jeremy still sulked, and Yumi tried her best (but she honestly felt like she should have nothing to do with trying to console others).

Halfway through the meeting, a pleasant surprise came there way. Sissi walked in, holding a small plate. The plate was piled high with cookies.

"Here you go," she said. "I thought, well, that they might help." She looked at the ceiling. "I know we haven't always gotten along well, but that doesn't mean I don't want Aelita to be safe. And I know you guys must be taking this hard and these cookies always helped me when…well they always helped me so I figured that, maybe…"

Ulrich got up and took the plate from her. "Thanks Sissi," he said, cutting her off, "this means a lot to us."

"You're welcome," she said and she was off before anyone else could say anything.

* * *

They mostly stuck to the dorms that day. They tried to act like it was a normal day whether it be by playing games or working on a computer or talking quietly. But there was a heaviness in the air that they couldn't get rid of.

They also all tensed up whenever they heard a sound from the outside. Which was a lot, since there was constantly a teacher or faculty member checking up on them, making sure that they were all there and not kidnapped and still alive.

"Maybe we could all put up fliers," Yumi suggested. "That way if someone notices her with the kidnappers, they'll know who to call."

"If my body guards would let me out to do that," Odd said as he threw a small ball against the bedroom door and caught it. "You should have seen them when I went to use the bathroom. They acted completely insane; you would've thought I had snuck off to murder someone. And Ulrich was with me! Between you guys, Jim, and Delmas, it's a wonder I can even breath."

"They did overreact a bit, but it's for your safety, so what are you going to do about it?"

Odd sighed angrily and went back to throwing the ball against the door.

"I think it's worth a shot," Yumi said. "Some of the other students started doing it yesterday and I think a few went out today to help."

They all agreed and when Jim came to check on them again, they asked him.

"I don't know…we don't really want you guys wandering around, especially not outside the city."

"But if you're with us, it'll be okay, right Jim?" Jeremy asked excitedly. "I mean, isn't it technically more likely that if something were to happen, they'd try to do it at Kadic, where Odd is known to be? So why would it be different in the city, where there are a lot of witnesses?"

Jim considered this for a moment before agreeing. "You make a good point Belpois. We'll head out in half an hour."

"Excellent!" Jeremy exclaimed and the group went to the computer lab to print out some more of the fliers that had been created.

Half an hour later, they set out, with arms loaded with fliers and staplers. They walked around the city with Jim and another teacher. Every stranger was looked at with suspicion and someone was always facing a different direction.

The fliers were a long shot, and they knew that, but by the end of the day, the friends had felt like they had accomplished something and were one step closer to finding Aelita. Odd had also not been attacked, which raised their spirits considerably.

"You know, I feel like we really will find her. I just think that everything's going to be alright, you know?" Jeremy said. "I just get that feeling."

"I guess, but we still have a long way to go," Ulrich added. "But I think we're closer than we were this morning. We're never going to stop looking."

"Never!" Odd repeated. "We'll find her, no matter what."

They mean those words with everything they had. They would go anywhere they needed. A hint of pink hair on the other side of the world? They would hop on a plane. Nothing was going to stop them from finding Aelita.

_We'll never stop looking._


End file.
